Miami as the center of the fashion industry in the U.S. and a fashion bridge with Latin America, that is the goal that Hakan Baykam, president of Istituto Marangoni Miami, has set out to achieve.
Founded in Milan in 1935, the university now has locations all over the world and its expansion into the Americas with the opening of the first U.S. school in Miami’s Design District counts as its 10th.
“We have this mission to make Miami a fashion capital. The idea is to bring talents around the world here, study here and, when they finish [school], stay here, not go to New York or another place [and] make your business here. I think there is a huge opportunity here. We have a lot of creatives coming from Latin America, an area that was totally underestimated by the fashion industry. I think Miami can be a good platform for them,” Baykam said.
Istituto Marangoni Miami’s Sofia Agostini and Marco Iannone during a fireside chat.
Courtesy of Istituto Marangoni Miami
Last Friday and held during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, Istituto Marangoni Miami presented Rocco Iannone, creative director of Ferrari, with an honorary master’s degree in fashion design. Iannone is a graduate and alum from Istituto Marangoni’s Milan outpost. The designer’s résumé includes working at some of Italy’s best-known houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Pal Zileri.
Iannone’s post at Ferrari has seen him developing the creative content, design and image of all of Ferrari’s own and licensed apparel and accessories collections for men and women.
“It’s a very beautiful moment for me because creating this project at Ferrari was not something very easy as you can imagine, creating this vision of a Ferrari life through fashion and not only fashion, a full picture of what the lifestyle at Ferrari is. It took time and a lot of understanding how to bring a very important and iconic brand as Ferrari even if it’s coming from a different segment compared to the one I come from and connecting the brand to fashion and lifestyle. After seven collections, we are here to celebrate the brand as one unique brand via three different pillars that are sports, car racing and lifestyle,” he told WWD.
Iannone’s presence in Miami during the Miami Grand Prix Race weekend coincided with Ferrari’s 70th anniversary in the American market and the release of a limited-edition Miami capsule fashion collection.
Rocco Iannone, creative director of Ferrari, receiving his honorary master’s degree in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni Miami.
Courtesy of Istituto Marangoni Miami
As part of the school event, a fireside chat took place with Iannone moderated by Istituto Marangoni Miami’s Sofia Agostini, director of brand partnerships and adjunct professor.
The discussion touched on the designer’s career beginnings and the challenges of reimagining the Ferrari brand for the modern age.
“This was a very important moment for us as we are here to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Ferrari in the U.S. market. For us it was a very important week because this moment gave us the opportunity to present ourselves as one brand. We are working around the brand perception to create a full environment around the Ferrari world. For this reason, it was a very good opportunity because I had the chance to inject into this collection some racing elements but in a very high-end and elevated way. And then [we also had the chance] to add elements of the city, such as the beautiful tropical pastel color palette, the cars and the lines that are part of the aesthetic of the city, and also work on the big claim we are using during this week to present to our audience: innovation and tradition,” added Iannone during the fireside talk.
Sofia Agostini, Rocco Iannone and Hakan Baykam.
Courtesy of Istituto Marangoni Miami
